Life with a Smart Refrigerator – Samsung Hub

Over the course of the last year as we’ve settled into our country home, we are slowly converting this old farm house into a smart home. From wifi thermometers to our home surveillance system, we can update and stay connected with our house via our phones. This past week, our home received it’s best smart home (and kitchen) upgrade. Our friends at Nebraska Furniture Mart asked if we would be interested in reviewing the Samsung Hub Smart Refrigerator – Duh. Of course.

UPDATE: April 2017 – We have received a few emails over the last month asking if we are still using the Samsung Hub Refrigerator. YES! This fridge is a staple in our kitchen and we still love and adore it. The only thing that I wish they would have improved is the size of the ice maker. We have not had any technical difficulties with the refrigerator.

Samsung Hub Smart Refrigerator Review

So, here is the deal. We had an okay refrigerator. It was NOTHING fancy, yes – every time I bought groceries for our family of 6 it felt like I was playing Jenga putting food in the fridge as it was entirely a crappy designed fridge. It was fine, and worked, we made do and life went on – until life was changed when our new Samsung Hub wi-fi refrigerator arrived. Our Nebraska Furniture Mart delivery guy, Treminio rang our door bell and within minutes had upgraded our simple kitchen to fancy with this smart refrigerator.

(Also, side note: totally amazed how easy delivery was. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to move a fridge, it took us an hour to move our old fridge to the office (a whopping 20 feet – IF THAT!) Treminio and his co-worker had the new fridge out of the truck and in our kitchen and setup in 10 minutes.)

I honestly didn’t think a new refrigerator would make that much difference in our day-to-day lives – but wow. And the whole “smart” aspect – mind blowing, especially for this mom who has 6 mouths to feed and 6 schedules to coordinate. Remember, this is more than a kitchen appliance that keeps your food cold, the Samsung Hub is beautiful, it keeps our meals organized, the kitchen atmosphere vibrant and our family schedule in-sync – let me explain:

A Pretty Refrigerator

A pretty refrigerator? Yes. This thing is gorgeous.

21.5″ LED Touchscreen

Yes, you read that right – this has a gigantic tablet built into one of the four doors. I’ll go into more depth into what apps are available, but like wow – it’s gorgeous – it redefines the meaning of “photos on the fridge.”

Finger Print Proof Coating

Okay moms with stainless steel products, you will lover this. The premium stainless steel exterior has a special coating to help eliminate fingerprints and smudges  so your fridge always looks its best. There are a few smudges on the door handle, but overall compared to our other stainless steel kitchen appliances, there are minimal kid finger prints!

High-Efficiency LED Lighting

I’m a sucker for good lighting and the Hub’s lighting is gorgeous. The LED lighting gently brightens virtually every corner of your refrigerator so youre able to quickly spot what you want. Plus, it emits less heat and is more energy-efficient than conventional lighting.

ENERGY STAR® Rated

Food and the Smart Refrigerator

6 mouths to feed means I am grocery shopping for 6 people.

Refrigerator with Cameras

I can’t tell you how many times I have to call home while I am at the store “DO WE NEED MAYO?”Maybe you can relate? Here’s the deal with the Samsung Hub. Remember, I said it was smart? How smart? You download the Samsung Smart Home app and boom – you have instant access to your refrigerator. There are 3 built-in cameras in the fridge. Every time the door closes, they take a picture, so you can view whats inside your fridge from your phone or from the outside LED screen

Four Door Flex Design

The four door design is brilliant. While this refrigerator isn’t too much bigger in cubic feet than our last – the layout makes a world of difference. The doors are able to hold gallons of milk (we go thru 4 gallons of milk a week – this summer, it’s been 5!) And get this – the “flex design” allows you to use one of the quadrants for either a refrigerator OR freezer. That’s right, if you don’t need the freezer space – you can convert the bottom right quadrant into a refrigerator. It has a built-in wine rack – so right now, it’s chilling my wine.

Apps and Entertainment

Did I ever think I would have a wi-fi enabled refrigerator? NOPE! BUT WOAH.

Pandora

First, I don’t know about you – but I LOVE me some music, especially while cooking. Pandora is built-in so every morning my favorite Pandora channels are now blaring from the refrigerator.

Mirror Your TV

If you own a Samsung television, you can mirror your device and play the tv thru the fridge’s LED screen!

Family Hub

Share your familys calendars, photos, and notes directly on the Family Hub, or from your phone. We’ve used this feature obsessively. Remember the old days when you had a paper calendar? GONE! Now it’s all digital and can be accessed from the LED screen on your fridge! We leave each other notes, pictures and more – all on the screen.

Allreceipes

Another built-in app is Allrecipes. If you haven’t tried this website/app – DO IT. As someone who tries to cook at least 5 dinners a week at home, I am always “stuck.” While Pinterest is great – sometimes I just need QUICK and PRACTICAL. Allrecipes lets you type in the ingredients you have (example: chicken and tomato sauce) and will give you meal ideas and recipes. BRILLIANT and game changing!

Groceries by Mastercard

This feature is coming soon to my area, and I cannot wait to try it out. You can order groceries directly from your refrigerator.

TuneIn Radio

I had not used TuneIn Radio before, but I love it. I am a huge NPR fan and found I can listen to my local NPR station – all via the fridge interface!

Kitchen Technology

We absolutely love the Samsung Hub Refrigerator. If you are a kitchen technology junkie – one of our other favorite tech finds for the kitchen is the Instant Pot. Read 5 reasons you will love the Instant Pot!

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2 Comments

Susan
on April 13, 2017 at 1:00 pm

I am building a new home and love the Samsung family hub fridge. I believe you wrote this review in June 2016, so wanted to know how it is operating and if you still love it? I’ve heard some horror stories on ice maker, technology, and Samsung customer service. Thank you.

Congrats on the new home. YES, we are still using the Samsung Hub refrigerator and love it. The ONE downside that we run into is the size of the ice maker. We have a second fridge so it’s not a massive issue for us – but all that said, we really wish the ice maker capacity was larger. This is our second Samsung refrigerator. The first we sold 2 years ago with our last house – it had 2 ice makers which was amazing. I really wish Samsung included 2 with the hub. All that said, we use the touch screen for something daily (plus bonus, so cool to see a calendar of upcoming events). We have not had to contact customer service, so haven’t had any experience in that department. I did see a preview of the newer Hub at CES this year. I couldn’t get a grasp for the size of the ice maker but did see the new interface which looked impressive. I am not sure on the launch date of the new fridge, but maybe worth looking into to either go with the newer version – or save on the older model.

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Digital Mom Blog is a digital lifestyle blog based out of Dallas, TX. We talk technology, parenting, and family.